25. Chapter 25 #2
“Thank you.” She turned and crouched with Lewis.
“Don’t tell me you both fit in that?” Lewis asked Kate while Raz climbed into the cockpit and sank into the co-pilot chair next to Sid.
“Did I hear that right? Fucking Midnight is onboard and is an asset?”
“Yeah,” Raz said.
Sid sighed. “Need to talk about it?”
“Let’s just focus on getting back home to Chicago.” Raz put the headset on and welcomed the silence. I hope you know what you’re doing, Kate.
In a systematic fashion, the two of them worked on takeoff. Once Caige returned and everyone was secure, they headed down the runway.
Sid kept the ramp door open.
Raz rubbed at his aching temples and rested against the co-pilot’s seat. Two hours were left of their already long ride.
Questions tormented him, while his dragon was a steady, reassuring presence. The link spoke of a person who needed to right a wrong—who cared deeply about the woman they rescued.
“I feel you roasting in that chair.” Sid’s voice crackled through his headset. “You want to hash it out?”
“Not with you.”
Sid chuckled. “Why don’t you go talk to her then?”
“It’s not the place. Nor the right time.” Only when they were safe and knew Midnight was on their side would the fire seething across his mind settle. Even then, he feared his memories from the past would be there, ready to pull him down into a pit of depression and resentment.
Sid was silent for a moment. “Is Midnight a Fallen?”
Raz nodded.
“I’m going to stay up here then. That’s not something I want to handle.” Sid paused. “Is she hot?”
I hope your mate’s a handful. Raz shook his head. “Only you would—“
A loud crash sounded from the back of the plane as if something large had fallen. Raz met Sid’s narrowed gaze and ripped off his headset.
“Pick her up,” the faint feminine voice came from the rear. Fear and guilt coursed over the link, strangling him.
Raz jumped from his seat and exited the cockpit. Caige had his back toward Raz, wisps of Illusion smoke covering him in shadow. Closer to the back, Lewis was down on one knee, hands raised.
Standing at the open rear loading ramp, Midnight’s spirit form aimed a gun at Kate who kneeled in front of Midnight’s unconscious body. Raz froze, not wanting to trigger Midnight to shoot.
“Naomi, please…” Kate’s voice broke as she held shaking hands in the air.
“No. You don’t get to act like you know who the hell I am.” Midnight pressed the barrel into Kate’s head. Raz’s whole body tensed, his dragon threatening to tear from his skin. “It should have been you. He only fucking wanted you.”
“I know. I’m so sorry,” Kate whispered, and Raz could hear the tears in her voice, though her back was to him.
Midnight released a humorless laugh. “Your apology is fifty years too late. Now pick her up, or I’ll start shooting.”
Midnight lifted the gun toward Lewis. Fuck. Helplessness tore at him. As far back as he was, there was nothing he could do to help the situation.
“Okay.” Kate turned her tear-streaked face toward him and grabbed the frail body from the case. As soon as Kate stood with Midnight’s body in her arms, Midnight grabbed Kate into a stranglehold and pressed the gun to her temple.
Midnight’s dark eyes targeted Raz.
He stilled, palms lifting. “We aren’t here to harm you. Let Kate go,” he shouted over the roaring wind and propellers.
Midnight spoke into Kate’s ear, and even through the wind he caught it. “Their blood is on your hands. This time, we’ll die together.”
A tear fell from Kate’s eye. Midnight took a step toward the night sky.
“No,” he shouted.
Midnight pointed her gun at him. He hadn’t noticed until then that he’d stepped forward.
“Don’t be the hero,” Midnight yelled at him. “You’ll only get yourself killed.”
She dragged Kate back another step.
Fight, damnit.
Caige moved. A shot rang out, piercing Raz’s eardrum. Midnight flung herself and Kate out the back.
The bullet thudded into padding behind Raz. Fuck! Raz ran down the ramp. Caige had already sprinted ahead of him and jumped.
Raz dove into the air.
Free fall tickled his lungs. The wind stung his eyes until tears blurred his vision.
He didn’t understand the rules of Kate’s reincarnation, especially when he had a spirit tie to her. But having to wait for her to reincarnate and grow older, no matter how long that took, was a tight chain around his heart. He couldn’t lose her.
Two tangled shadows plummeted into gray clouds: Midnight and Kate.
Dark smoke in the shape of a ghostly dragon, long neck and sleek swept-back wings, followed after them.
Raz’s Insight flared to life, taking in all the surrounding energies.
Birds flew below—but most importantly, no humans were in the immediate vicinity.
Mist wetted Raz’s face, blinding him. He kept his hands tucked at his sides, diving through the air. Focus. Stay balanced.
He cleared the clouds. Rain pelted his body. Black fire streaked across the sky. What the fuck are you doing, Caige?
The mass Caige aimed his dragon fire at separated. One became a speck that Caige dashed after. The other tumbled for a bit before righting into bent arms and legs. Orris and sugar cookies.
Kate.
But past her, green land and dark blue water came into focus. They were too close!
He barreled toward her. The strands of her black hair and the tops of pine trees came into view. He shifted.
Fire blazed along his spine, and he shrank and stretched at the same time. He reached out with dragon claws and grasped her torso before whipping out his wings. The stress tore at his muscles as he felt the wind nearly rip his shoulders from their sockets. He gentled into a glide.
Got you…
Kate grabbed hold of his clawed feet, hands shaking.
He couldn’t spot Caige. The rain misted over the water below.
Insight at full throttle, he inhaled the energies of the fish in the lake and the mammals in the forest. As he locked onto Caige’s smoky energy, a plume of debris erupted into the air as if Caige had crashed. A fall like that could kill a dragon.
No.
Dragon fire released from his lungs. He raced to the ground. Trees were knocked over. A mound of dirt surrounded a small imprint. And Caige lay in human form, face up—unmoving.